Vocabulary Brought to You by...

Hi, I'm Tanya Michaels and my first American Trouble in Tennessee will be out this July. I have a long history with Harlequin--not only have I written over a dozen books for them, I've been reading Harlequins since...well, since probably before I should have been *g*

I've loved romance novels since I was young and learned a lot about different careers and different countries, people in different life situations than I've faced (or would want to...particularly when those situations involve suspense plots or getting trapped in blizzards). Reading Harlequin Historicals set during the Regency period led to curiosity that prompted my degree in History with a focus on Great Britain. And because I often read above my grade level, I had a superior vocabulary. Not that I could always pronounce the words in my great vocabulary.

See, the problem with picking words up through context is not having anyone to go over the pronounciation with you (especially when it's an old-fashioned word most people stopped using around 1900).

I have a friend with a similar reading history who told her mom at a young age that she thought it would be quite romantic to be married in a gaze-beau, because as far as she knew that was how you said gazebo. And my mother and sister who work professionally with dogs had quite a laugh at my mangling of Papillon (don't even talk to me about Bichon Frise--come on, if you'd never heard of the breed before, wouldn't you think Bitchin' Fries was perfectly logical?) At least with the Harry Potter movies, they helped me out and made movies...it's how I finally figured out Hermione.

So I thank all the authors over the years who have contributed to my knowledge of words! I'm incredibly grateful that I have a job where I get to use my love of words every single day...without having to say them out loud.